


The Guardian's Curse

by NarnianHobbit



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Diamond & Pearl & Platinum | Pokemon Diamond Pearl Platinum Versions
Genre: Adventure, F/M, Fantasy, Tragedy, Tragic Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-01
Updated: 2018-07-24
Packaged: 2019-06-01 01:54:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15132512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NarnianHobbit/pseuds/NarnianHobbit
Summary: Riley never expected to help out a girl with a curse and a city that's been cursed with eternal sleep and nightmares. / Aaron dreamt about becoming a Knight his whole life but he never expected to find a pokémon with the same powers he has.





	1. Chapter 1

_Aaron takes a slow, deep breath as he thrusts his sword in a diagonal line. He has to concentrate or else every thing he worked for would be for nothing. He's told to advance, so he takes a clumsy step forward, ignoring the way his heart pounds when the other knights shout a battle cry in unison. Sweat drips down his forehead as he breathes heavily. They've been at this for over an hour now, going over what they learned during their training, hoping it would be enough to make the Royal family proud._

  
_Every so often he'd find his eyes drifting over to the princess of Rota._ _He wouldn't deny her beauty. He's noticed it ever since they were children. And even since then, she is a mystery to him. Her blue eyes lock on to his and he jumps back, startled by the sudden contact._

_"Aaron!" one of his friends brings him back to reality._

_He jumps and glances over at his mentor in confusion. His friend had a bit of stubble on his chin, icy blue eyes, and a stern expression._

_"Pay attention!" the older man hisses._

_His face flushes in embarrassment at his friend's knowing look._

_There are a few chuckles from the crowd behind him. His cheeks and neck heat up as he smiles sheepishly at the princess who winks at him. The king raises his hand with a stern glare which makes the laughter immediately stop. Aaron watches with rapt attention when she gets up from her seat and glances at her father. The king nods his head as if giving her approval and gestures to the row of anxious men waiting to be knighted._ _Lady Rin's pink dress trails behind her as she approaches him with a sword in her hands._

_"Aaron, do you hereby swear to protect Rota and the royal family with your life?" Lady Rin asks, gently tapping a sword on both his shoulders. "No matter how dire the consequences may be?"_

_"I do hereby swear," he answers_ _automatically with a grin._

_"Then may Arceus bless you and may Mew protect you on your journey," Lady Rin returns his smile. "Rise, Sir Aaron, knight of Rota!"_

_His smile turns into a lopsided grin as he does as he's told, nearly tripping over his cape but not enough that the crowd notices, and there's thunderous applause behind him. Despite his embarrassment from earlier, he's thrilled that he finally achieved his goal. A few of his friends were throwing kissy faces at him, mocking him, but he knew it was all in good jest. He wouldn't let that moment taint his happiness because it would be their turn soon. They'd understand how nervous he felt_.

_Finally._

_All his hard work wouldn't be for nothing._

☆☆☆☆

  
_'Is everything alright on your side, Lucario?'_ Riley thought as he sprints through the caves of Iron Island.

 _'Affirmative,'_ Lucario's gruff voice answers back.

 _'Let's head back for the day,'_ he suggests to his partner. He wipes a bead of sweat from his brow as he slides to a stop by the stone wall to catch his breath. There isn't anything out of the ordinary. Nothing he could tell with his aura powers. But the Pokemon were acting skittish more than usual as if someone has disturbed their territory and it made him uneasy.

 _'As you wish, Riley,'_ the Pokemon replies and their connection abruptly cuts off.

Riley cries out in surprise as a giant Pokemon made of steel roars and bursts out of the rocks. Its roar shakes the cave around them and dirt falls from the ceiling like rain. Riley loses his balance and his back collides against the sharp stones behind him. He winces at a burst of pain in his lower back.

_'Riley!'_

_'I'm fine!'_ Riley reassures his partner. _'The Onix just startled me is all.'_

"I'm so sorry, mister!" A little boy, no older than ten he believes, comes rushing up to him. There were a few bandages spread on the boy's face. "My Onix is usually more behaved than this! Bad Onix! You should know better!"

"It's no trouble at all," Riley says with a polite smile. "Please be more careful. It's dangerous in the caves."

"We will!" The boy exclaims.

He drops the smile as the two run off. Riley grunts as he tries to get back up on his feet but a throb of pain stops him. He winces. That's going to bruise tomorrow. As soon as he gets up and places his palm against the wall, it comes crumbling down; taking him with it. He shouts in surprise as he falls backward, into a small opening. He groans and coughs as dirt enters his lungs. He swats it away and opens his eyes.

He finds himself staring at a large, bright blue crystal.

What the-? The energy surrounding it startles him. He's never seen this crystal before. He gently places a hand on it and a bright white lights bursts at his touch. He yelps as the light engulfs him. When he opens his eyes again, he's not in the caves anymore. He's standing in a lush green forest and there's a large group of Pokemon marching in his direction. What in the name of Arceus?!

To his relief, when he touches the crystal again, he's back in the caves. He's never been so happy to see it in his life.

"You've found it, I see."

Riley jumps at the unfamiliar, deep voice and whirls around.

A man with teal hair and grey eyes stands before him, eyeing the blue crystal with interest. He wore a strange grey uniform. Riley stiffens as the man's aura surrounds him in shades of blue and purple. How'd that man manage to sneak behind him? He's usually more careful and alert!

"The flow of time is a remarkable thing, isn't it?" The man questions. He brushes past Riley, gazing at the crystal. "In one part of the world, it's night time. Everyone would be asleep in their beds, dreaming. In another part, it's daytime. Everyone is up, going about their daily business. But in some cases..."

He gives Riley a knowing look.

"Who are you?" Riley asks hesitantly.

The man closes his eyes and touches the blue crystal. Just what did that man know? Did he experience the same thing he did? Riley jumps as the man moves away from the crystal, towards him.

"Answer my question," Riley says impatiently, bringing his staff closer to him for protection.

"I'm merely a scientist studying about other worlds," the man replies with a shrug of his shoulders. "Don't worry. I've seen all that I needed to see."

Riley stares at him. He releases a short breath of relief when the man becomes nothing but a silhouette in the distance. He smiles when a blur of blue passes him.

 _'Riley, what's wrong?'_ Riley relaxes his shoulders when he recognizes his partner.

"I'm fine, Lucario," he reassures out loud now that the aura Pokemon was near his side. "What can you sense from this crystal?"

Lucario narrows his red eyes as he stares at the blue crystal embodied between the stone walls. _'There's an odd energy around it.'_

Riley nods his head and a small smile appears on his face. There's a swirl of pride in his chest. He can always count on the Pokemon to be alert and aware at all the times.

"I'm not sure what it is," he tells Lucario, "but it took me back in time."

 _'What?'_ Lucario gasps. He can hear the disbelief in the Pokemon's gruff voice. _'How is that possible?'_

He shakes his head. He's not entirely sure himself. He's read about all kinds of crystals and their energies. But he's never experienced something like this before.

He needs to contact Bryon.


	2. Chapter 2

Help me!' 

  
_Aaron jumps out of his bed, breathing heavily. His vision is still distorted from waking up so suddenly and sweat trickles down from his forehead, stopping just above his brow. His eyes dart around the room. Still dark out._

_He groans and lies back down, shielding his eyes with his arm. It's been a few weeks now since he became a Knight and he blames his unease at his new living quarters._

_He gets dressed in his new uniform, consisting of a blue tunic and grey trousers. He grabs his cape from the hanger and heads out the door, placing his hat on his head and throwing the cape around his shoulders._

_He hears laughter up ahead and freezes, recognizing the jeers. Rene. He sprints for the courtyard, just in time to witness fellow knights tossing his friend in the fountain._

_"Rene!" he shouts, rushing over to help his friend._

_"Aaron?" The silver haired boy frowns._

_"They've been tormenting you again, haven't they?" Aaron grunts as he lifts his friend up from the water._

_"They're nothing I can't handle," Rene replies, shaking water from his hair which stuck to his neck as it dried._

_"Rene, they tossed you into a fountain!And last week they locked you in the shed!"_

_"I can't keep relying on your help forever, Aaron."_

_"You'll get there Rene, " he knocks the younger boy's hat off playfully. "Ready for more training today?"_

_The boy groans, adjusting his hat, "I swear all we ever do is train," he complains. "I thought we were going to have more complicated jobs than this!"_

_"It's not going to be easy," Aaron laughs._

_"I never said it was, " Rene frowns deeply, sitting next to him on the fountain_

_'Help me!'_

_A soft, boyish voice tickles his ears and startles him out of his meditation. It's the same voice from this morning. His eyes dark around the courtyard, searching for the culprit but finds no one around him. Aaron frowns. Where is that coming from? He shuts his eyes, takes a deep breath, and mutters "the aura is with me!" softly._

_When he shuts his eyes, he's transported into an entirely different world. One covered in darkness with only a strange white glow guiding him around. There! He discovers something odd in the forest._

_"Aaron, what's wrong?" Rene quirks an eyebrow at his tense posture._

_'Help me! Please!'_

_He cries out at the burst of sharp pain, startling the boy beside him_.

_"Aaron?!"_

_"S-sorry, Rene, " Aaron manages to stutter. "There's something I need to do real quick."_

_He whistles loudly with two fingers in his teeth and a large, brown bird swoops down from the sky towards him. He smiles as it stares at him curiously._ _Rene'_ s _eyes widen at the sight of the huge bird, staring at it cautiously and curiously._

_'Hey there,'_ _he communicates telepathically. The bird's head perks up at his soothing voice. 'Think you can help me out?'_

_It doesn't say anything back. He doesn't expect it to. He grins when it bows its head, allowing him to climb on top of its back. 'Thank you so much, pidgeotto.'_

_"Cover for me, Rene!"_

_Rene stutters, taken aback by the bird's quick movement. Aaron urges it forward and the bird spreads its wings and leaps towards the sky._

_Aaron finds a small blue pokemon being attacked by ariados and bedroll in the_ _forest_ _. He jumps off the bird, muttering another "thank you" and lands on his feet with a soft grunt. The Pokemon's attention snaps towards him, growling and crying out at this new disturbance._

_The Pokemon that called out to him had cuts across all over its stomach and face. It looks up at him and jumps back with a start._

_'Please, don't be scared,' he reassures the Pokemon with a small smile on his lips. 'I'm trying to help you.'_

_'How do I know you're not lying to me?'_

_Without warning, Aaron spreads his arm out and holds out his staff in front of him protectively. Blue light emits from his staff and bursts forward with a loud hum. The other Pokemon cry out and scramble away from the attack._

_'Please, let me help you,' Aaron calls to it gently._

_The small Pokemon stares at his outstretched hand warily. Its red eyes dark back and forth between him and the angry Pokemon around them before he reluctantly grabs his hand. With a soft grunt, Aaron lifts the Pokemon onto the bird. He whistles shrilly with his thumb and index finger and the bird takes off towards the sky._

_As he reaches the courtyard, he's greeted by a few soldiers who were marching towards the forest and the town. He senses his best friend right away and the white haired boy sprints towards him, breathing heavily as he catches his breath._

_"Aaron, what happened out there? The guards were sounding the alarm!" his friend asks hastily. He stops dead in his tracks, noticing the Pokemon in Aaron's arms. "Aaron?"_

_"They were attacking him," Aaron says softly. "I couldn't leave him there."_

_His friend says nothing. But his blue eyes were fixed to the Pokemon as if he were in a trance._

_"Aaron! Rene!" a deep, booming voice shouts, startling them._

_They both look up as a tall man wearing a blue cloak around his silver tunic sprints past them. Aaron hastily hides the unconscious Pokemon underneath his own cloak, away from his superior's eyes._

_"Quit messing around!" their superior shouts. "We need you two in front! They're attacking the village!"_

" _You have to take it to Lady Rin!" Rene whispers harshly_. _"I'll cover for you."_

_Aaron nods a silent thanks to him and runs off, ignoring the older man's protests._

_He finds her_ _walking the halls, talking with her handmaiden. Her pink dress is so long that it drags across the floor. She only notices him when her handmaiden suddenly points in his direction._

_"Aaron?" she frowns._ _"What's wrong?"_

_"Milady!" He exclaims breathlessly. He bows quickly. "Please forgive my manners, but it's urgent!"_

_He lifts his cloak to show her the pokemon in his arms. She gasps softly._

_"Take him to the infirmary at once!" Lady Rin orders_ _the woman beside her._

_"Yes, milady," the handmaiden curtseys and moves towards him._

_He jumps back reflexively, frowning at her._

_"It's okay, Aaron," the princess smiles at him. She places a hand gently on his shoulder. "They'll take good care of him."_

_Aaron nods his head and hesitantly gives the Pokemon to the woman holding out her hands, waiting for him. The woman smiles weakly, curtseys and rushes off without saying a word._

_"Aaron?" Lady Rin calls him. He whirls around, bowing his head respectfully. "Can you walk with me? I need to discuss something with you."_

☆☆☆

  
'Help me... '

Riley's eyes flew open and he lifts his head from his pillow. He blinks a few times to let his eyes adjust to the lighting. He glances over at his window. It's still dark out but there's a hint of pink at the peak of Mt Coronet. Lucario isn't anywhere to be found. He shakes his head. The aura Pokemon was probably off training on the island somewhere or waiting for him to wake up.

' _Help me... Please!'_

He jolts out of bed at the voice, yelping in surprise. It's nothing like his partners' gruff voice. This voice was soft and feminine.

'Lucario?' He asks. Even his thoughts sounded groggy from lack of sleep. 'What's going on? Where are you?'

'There's something going on in the caves, Riley!' Lucario's concerned voice exclaims. 'Did you hear it?'

'Just now!' Riley answers. 'Did you find it?'

'Not yet,' Lucario says. 'I'm still looking.'

Riley groans as he picks himself up from the floor. He winces at the jolt of pain from the injury he received yesterday.

A loud beeping comes from his computer and he catches a glimpse of a starly flying across the screen with a letter in its mouth. His lips quirk up as he taps on the small bird and a small square box appears on the center of his screen. He's instantly greeted with a dark haired man who had a hint of stubble all around his chin.

"It's good to see you again, Bryon, " he says.

"It's certainly good to hear from you again, m'boy!" The elder man grins. "You've been gone for so long that everyone's been thinking of sending their Staraptors to search for you. "

"I know and I'm sorry about that," he apologizes, sighing heavily. "It's been crazy here. "

"Are you alright?" Bryon's smile falters. His blue eyes narrow in concern. "Is it that bad on the island?"

"Yeah," he grimaces as he flexes his injured shoulder. "The Pokemon have been acting up again. What did you think of the footage?"

"You've struck gold, Riley!" Bryon compliments. "I've never seen anything like that here in Sinnoh. I can ask Roark about it if you'd like but don't get your hopes up."

He sighs. If Bryon didn't know, would his son?

"Please do, " he says. He remembers how his friend Steven Stone had a fondness for rock collecting. They always used to joke about Steven's last name and how he was destined for it. "and if that turns out a fail, I can call Steven."

Bryon's laugh booms through the speakers, "That's your best bet," he says. "If anything knows anything, Steven would find out in a heartbeat."

They share a laugh.

"How's everything in the city?" Riley asks when he sobers up.

He frown's at the somber look on Bryon's face.

"To be perfectly honest, not too good," Bryon sighs, rubbing his temple as if he had a headache. "Do you remember the house by the Pokemon Center? The one that no one can get into?"

Riley shudders. He remembers going near the house. He remembers the dark purple and black aura surrounding it and how it pushed him aside when he tried to get a closer look.

"It happened again to Louise's son," Bryon tells him. Wrinkles appear on his forehead, making him seem a lot older than he was. "You remember her, right? She's one of the workers at the Pokemon Center," Riley nods, vaguely remembering a woman with purple hair helping out Nurse Joy and Chansey heal Pokemon. "He's suffering from nightmares and they believe the town's cursed because of them. I know them, Riley. They'd never curse anyone. They were good people."

He doesn't know the whole story but he's heard the rumors about the family upsetting a legendary Pokemon and they suffered from nightmares. He never trusts rumors. But if they were true....then what kind of Pokemon could give people endless nightmares? Riley frowns at the thought. Maybe the same Pokemon who put the dark energy around the house.

"Do you need my help?" Riley asks.

"You don't have to come if you don't want to," Bryon gives him a pointed look. "I know you have stuff you're dealing with at the island."

"But this is more important," Riley reasons. Especially if people's lives were at stake. It gives him a reason to go back to his old town, to check if the rumors about the cursed house were true.

"Do you want me to send you a ferry tomorrow?" Bryon asks. He's surprised. He's expecting the old man to argue with him.

"Yes, please," he nods his head. "First thing in the morning."

"You betcha," Bryon sighs heavily.

They say their goodbyes and Bryon's the first to drop the call. He's back to staring at his familiar blue wallpaper screen. He leans back in his chair and stares up at the ceiling, deep in his thoughts.

First the odd crystal and now the city's cursed. What the hell's going on?


	3. Chapter 3

_He couldn't stop thinking about the injured Pokemon. Knowing that pokèmon of Rota were being attacked so out of the blue did nothing to help his worries.  They were getting more and more frequent now that Rota is on the brink of war with its neighboring country. She hasn't said a word to him yet. Why did she choose to speak to_ him _o_ _f all people when she could've easily chosen one of the more advanced knights_?

  
_Not that he minds, of course. He enjoys her company far better than the other men who made inappropriate jokes and like to pick on Rene far more often than he liked._

_"Aaron?"_

_He jumps. Her voice brings him back to Earth. His legs are shaking slightly so he attempts to drag his navy blue boots across the dirt. She's staring at him so intensely that his ears and cheeks were warming up._

_"You could lose your place for this, I hope you realize," she frowns._ _Her stern expression can match his commanding officer._

_"I --I'm sorry," he stammers and bows once more. "It won't happen--"_

_She giggles. He stops talking, thrown off guard_ _by the sound._

_"Please relax, Aaron," she says more gentle than before. "I was_ _only_ _having a bit of fun."_

_His breath hitches but he finds his shoulders relaxing as her blue eyes soften._

_"Why did you need to speak with me, milady?"_

_They stop in the courtyard that had a large fountain. There were lily pads on top of the water with white roses. He and Rene often stopped by here to get away from the other knights once in a while_.

_"What do you know of aura?"_

_"Only that it's rarely used," Aaron frowns. "Why do you ask, milady?"_

" _Aura is something that's been passed down my family line for many generations,_ " _she explains as she sits on the stone bench._ _Her hand slowly glides through the water._ " _My parents refuse to teach it because, if used in the wrong way, it could cause harm to the Tree of Beginnings. They don't want to hurt the legendary creature who protects Rota."_

_"Mew, " Aaron whispers breathlessly._

_Mew is said to be a trickster who liked to pretend to be other Pokemon so it wouldn't be noticed by humans. He wishes he can meet it one day._

_"Aaron... it would ease my mind if you became a Guardian," she tells him._ _"Y_ _ou have great potential to be one. I sensed it in you the day we met_. _"_

_His ears warm up when he remembers his embarrassing mistake._ _He doesn't know what to say. He doesn't know anything about being a Guardian. But he couldn't turn down a request from the royal family._

_"Of course, milady," he bows respectfully._

_He doesn't miss the twinkle in her eyes as she smiles._

_☆☆☆_

  
Lucario wasn't exactly pleased when he told him they were going back to Canalave City. Riley isn't sure if it's because the Pokemon sensed the dark aura or the fact they had to go back by ship. Lucario always stayed as far from the railing as possible and would rather stay in the Pokeball. Riley couldn't blame him. He'd gotten sick a few times due to the boat swaying back and forth on the sea. Thank Arceus that the city isn't too far from the island. It only takes about an hour to get there and back again.

 _'You okay, Lucario?'_ he asks in his mind.

' _I'll_ _be fine once we get there, '_ Lucario grunts.

 _'Hang in there, buddy, '_ Riley encourages warmly. _'we're almost there.'_

Riley shivers from the cool ocean breeze and smiles when he hears the familiar squawks of wingull above him. Those pesky birds always travel in groups. He misses this. Being out in the open, smelling the fresh salty air, and not in the cramped caves where dirt and dust often entered his lungs. He's happy to be back in his second home despite it all.

' _It_ _feels so strange to be back here,_ ' he admits.

' _Everything is still the same, isn't it_?'

' _Y_ _eah_ , _like nothing's changed,'_ Riley grins. _'It's good to be back._ '

Canalave City is actually pretty small compared to those big cities with tall towers like Jubilife. It's one of those places where everyone knew everyone's names and their whole life stories. He didn't mind it. Most of the people in the city were pretty friendly.

Except for one thing.

Riley's eyebrows narrow as he stares at the blue house near the Pokemon center. It's still surrounded by that bluish purple aura. No one's gone near the house since the rumors spread about the family who lived in it. It's still in perfect condition as if something were keeping it that way.

He really should be meeting with Bryon right now.

But something about that house keeps drawing him in. Like he'd end up getting lost inside of it too. Despite people warning him and telling him not to go there, he goes anyway. Because something isn't just right with that house. It was calling for him. Like it wants him to solve a puzzle that hasn't been solved yet.

His hand glides through the purple mist with ease. But, like before, he can't get through. He yanks his hand back but something prevents him from going. It's like someone's holding his hand, inviting him to come inside. So he steps forward.

Without warning, the scenery around him changes and the colors dull like he sometimes sees in old movies. He hears someone crying; a little boy with white hair. He's sitting on the steps that lead to the front porch, with his face buried in his hands. Riley frowns and reaches for the boy to comfort him but his hand just fades through.

Riley yelps and jumps back. For a moment, he thinks the little boy hears him and it's why he looks up so suddenly. But the boy's blue eyes are staring past him. He whirls around and sees a tall shadow greet the boy. Whatever the man says makes the boy's features harden. Riley watches as the little boy walks off with the man.

Then everything around him fades away as if it never happened.

What on earth--?

It's like he'd... gone back in time, he realizes with a start.

That's never happened to him before. The only way he'd gone back in time is when he touched that blue crystal back in the caves.

'Riley?'

'I'm _alright,"_ he reassures the worried Pokemon. He just has to catch his breath.

"Watch out!"

Riley turns around and cries out in shock as someone collides right into him, knocking him over. He lands on his stomach with a loud thud. He moans in pain as he lifts his head slightly.

There's someone lying on top his back. They were light enough that he could easily push them off. So that's exactly what he did.


End file.
